Summer Rush
by WakingUpInWonderland
Summary: A chance encounter at an amusement park leaves Santana speechless and hopeful for the future. Co-written by monochromeheartbeat. AU


**Written a few months back after I went to an amusement park with no intention of posting in mind, it's being posted now for the readers of the story I beta, I'll Teach You to Dance, as a sorry for the delay in update. As of this moment, it's nothing more than a one-shot. If it was to be expanded upon, it wouldn't be until after ITYTD is completed. **

******Co-written by monochromeheartbeat. Tumblr: wakiinwonderland. tumblr. ****com**

* * *

"Oh HELL no," Santana planted her feet in protest as she saw the direction her friends were taking her. Quinn grabbed her arm and began to pull, but she wouldn't budge. "No fucking way am I getting on _that!_"

A mountain of gut wrenching drops and twisted turns rose before her. The sun gleamed off the black metal, giving it a more sinister appearance. A car raced by overhead and Santana shuttered at the prospect of being strapped into the joyride from _hell_.

"Stop being a pussy Lopez, it's just a roller coaster! I thought you were a bad ass," Puck laughed. Santana punched his arm and he yelped.

"Shut it Puck, I'm more of a badass than you on my _worst _day."

"Then what are you scared of?" Quinn said, tugging Santana forward as the line moved.

"I'm not _scared_," Santana hissed. "It just... look at it, it's completely unsafe."

"You'd only say that if you were scared," Tina said. "It hasn't broken down yet."

"All of these rides are so bo-janky," Santana wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Santana, stop being such a scaredy-cat," Rachel giggled.

"Oh? You're lucky you're tall enough to even get on the ride, dwarf," Santana spat. The distraction of Rachel's commentary was long enough for Tina and Puck to hook their arms around hers and drag her up to the platform of the roller coaster. She wiggled and shouted in protest.

"Let me go afores I ends you all!"

They were getting closer to the metal death trap. Santana continued to struggle but damn, who knew Little Miss Asian was freakishly strong? In a last ditch effort of desperation, Santana leaned over and bit Pucks wrist.

"-the fuck!?" He let go. Using her free arm, she was able to push Tina back and take off in the opposite direction. Behind her she could hear Puck complaining ("She bit me!") but she ignored it as she tried to lose herself in the crowd.

For a moment, one glorious moment, it looked like she was in the clear. Until strong arms wrapped around her waist and she was being flung over a shoulder.

"Hey!" She screamed, kicking her feet. "Puck let me go!"

The body holding her laughed. "I'm pretty sure Puck is terrified of you right now San."

Santana paused her assault momentarily, stunned. "Chang? What the fuck are you doing, put me down!"

"No can do San. They want to ride the roller coaster, and weren't you the one who said we were riding all the rides _together?_"

"That's because Berry was being such an uptight bitch! She made a list for all the 'age appropriate rides for young adults'! A _list!" _

"Who was it that threatened to tie her to a tea cup?"

"I only did that because she made the ride miserable to be on," Santana scowled. Mike chuckled and continued walking.

"Can you put me down yet? Where the fuck are they?"

"They went to wait in line while I got you."

"I'm not a baby, put me down," she started to squirm again.

"Promise not to run away again?" Mike said, straining to look back at her.

"...yes?"

"If you're that scared, Santana, you just need to say so. We won't make you ride something you're scared of," Mike chuckled as he set her on the ground.

Santana scoffed. "After I made a big deal about riding all the rides together? Ya, Quinn and Puck would never let me live it down. And I'm not _scared_ alright?"

Mike linked his arm through hers. "Alright, then lets go."

Santana huffed but allowed him to pull her along, dragging her feet as they went. Mike managed to pull her back to the line where their group was waiting. Puck glared when he saw her and rubbed his wrist as he shuffled away from her. The line started to move, and Santana held her breath as they got closer to the front of the line. She waited a moment, checking to see if Mike's hold on her arm had relaxed at all, and when it had, she slipped her arm out and turned to run again.

"Oh no you don't!" Mike shouted, and suddenly Tina was on her again. Tina caught her arm and a moment later, Mike caught the other. Quinn started to tickle her from her front and urged Rachel to join in. Santana started shouting and laughing at the same time, making it very difficult to maintain a scowl, and her knees weakened. Mike took advantage of her debilitated state and flipped her up in the air. With Tina's help, they carried her up the last stretch of the line to the front. She shouted for them to put her down, squirming and twisting violently until somehow ending up upside down. The moment she was upside down, her shouts went from angry cries of protest to pleas that they wouldn't drop her. Somewhere behind her she could hear Puck cackling in glee.

"Um...I'm not sure you can ride like that." The group of friends stopped and turned. Santana twisted to see if she could convince the voice to help her out but the plead died on her lips as long, tan legs came into view. Her gaze followed them to a pair of short shorts barely covered by the hideous shirts of the employees until she saw sapphire blue eyes sparkling down at her in amusement.

"Damn," she heard Puck mutter behind her, followed by a gasp of pain as Quinn elbowed him in the ribs. Suddenly Santana felt very foolish. She probably looked like an insane person.

"Put me down," she hissed quickly, but her friends ignored her, too engrossed in the blonde stranger.

"Some parts of the ride you are upside down, though," the blonde said, "So then maybe you'd just be right-side up instead? That would be fun."

"I can think of a few more things that might be fun to ride," Puck leered. A resounding _thwack_ sounded followed by another hiss of pain. "Stop hitting me!"

"Stop being a jackass!" Quinn hissed back.

"Don't worry, you should hear what some of the old timers come up with." They all scrunched their faces, causing the blonde to laugh. "Exactly."

Santana felt her cheeks flush at the sound of the blondes laugh, or maybe from being upside for so long. Her ears were starting to pound from the blood rush. She swung her arm, hitting Mike in the abs.

"Can you put me down before my head explodes?" She hissed. Slowly Mike swung her right side up again. She almost fell over as the blood retreated from her head and back to the lower parts of her body, but the blonde worker managed to catch her. The smell of sweet oranges washed over Santana, and she felt her eyes flutter.

"Careful," she said, smiling at the Latina.

Just then the train arrived in the station. The blonde let go of Santana, moving back to her station to let the riders out. Santana blinked.

"Awe look, Satans in love," Puck cooed from behind Quinn. Santana spun around and shot him a glare.

"Do you want to wake up looking like a skunk Puckerman? Spray paint and hair dye aren't _that_ hard to find."

"Cool it, Lopez," Puck said, defensively raising his arms to surrender. He turned to crawl into a car and scooted in to give space for Quinn. "She can dish it out, but she can't take a joke..."

"No, you were just being a prick," Quinn muttered as she secured the belt across their laps. "You of all people know how hard last year was for her."

"Ya but come on! That shits over now, we graduated! We made it, and we won't have to see any of _them_ ever again. She can finally embrace her awesome now!"

"Will you just shut up?" Quinn hissed, glancing back at the Latina behind them. Santana was getting redder in the face the longer Puckerman talked. She looked angry, but also embarrassed.

"Oh like you don't think the same thing," He hissed right back, lowering his voice. "I just want her to be _happy_, same as you! I mean, Jesus Quinn, when was the last time you saw her _actually_ smile..."

_That's it._

Santana stood up from her seat and began to get out.

"Where are you going Santana, you can't leave now the gate is already closed!" Rachel asked from her seat beside her.

"Can it dwarf, I'm just finding a different seat," Santana snapped before making her way to the back of the train as Sam took her spot next to Rachel. She found the only remaining empty car behind her friends and sat down, grimacing hard enough to make the tween that approached her scamper off to another car.

"We want to ride together." Two kids at the front of line protested. Santana looked up to see the blonde attendant scratching the back of her head as she glanced back at the row of cars. Santana's car was the only one with a vacant spot. The blonde shrugged and shooed the kids back and opened the gate for them to wait for the next train. She turned around and started to push down the safety harnesses for the ride.

"Watch where you put your hands," Puck winked as she approached his car. The blonde froze, and Quinn kicked him.

"Feel free to smack him, if you'd like," Quinn said. The blonde smiled sheepishly and locked them in place before continuing down the row. Santana felt herself get more and more tense until she completely froze up at the attendants approach.

"Is anyone sitting with you?" the blonde asked, smiling politely. Santana's eyes widened and she looked at the vacant seat next to her as though she had just noticed it.

"N-no," she stammered. She felt stupid for getting so worked up over a girl she'd never see again. _Get it together, Lopez._

"Would you mind if I joined you then?" The blonde asked. Santana's eyes bugged again. "My shift is over and I usually ride once before I go home."

"U-umm," Santana stammered. The blondes smile faltered.

"I could always wait for the next train though-"

"No!" Santana yelled, surprising them both. She cleared her throat, feeling her cheeks begin to flush. "No, no you can ride with me." She said, trying to sound nonchalant. She fought back a cringe at how forced it sounded.

The blonde's smile returned as she sat down and strapped them in. After securing the safety harness she gave a thumbs up to the new attendant who nodded back and began reciting the rules over the intercom.

"I'm Brittany," the blonde said, turning back to Santana.

"Oh?" Santana gulped. "Santana."

"I love this ride," Brittany chirped, looking straight ahead of them. "Do you like roller coasters?"

"Totally," Santana lied.

"I see," Brittany giggled. "Well, sometimes I even get scared, and it's my favorite. But, you wanna know what helps?" The ride jerked as it began to climb the incline. Santana yelped and grabbed onto the safety harness tighter.

"Sure," she squeaked out. They had reached the top. The blonde smiled and raised her hands in preparation.

"Yelling really LOUD!"

Nodding her head Santana shut her eyes in anticipation and as their car began it's decent let her voice get lost in the passing wind.

* * *

"Santana? You can open your eyes now."

Santana peeked her eyes open and was greeted with the welcome sight of the train pulling into the boarding station. Releasing a breath she hadn't known she was holding she began to undo her constraints, eager to get off the ride and back on solid ground as soon as possible. A hand on her wrist stopped her efforts.

"You might want to wait until the ride stops," Brittany said, a grin pulling on her lips.

"Oh, ya I know I was just –just making sure they were still secure," she pulled on her straps. "Yep, still secure."

"Well I'm glad you approve of my work," Brittany replied, the grin from before now on full display.

"Ya good job," Santana's cheeks flushed as she let her hands rest on her lap. God, what was wrong with her? When did she start acting like such a _Berry_?

When the ride finally came to a complete stop Brittany undid her straps before turning to Santana and helping with hers. She said nothing as Brittany stepped off the ride and offered her hand, steadying Santana as she stepped out.

"Well, I have to get my stuff. Thanks for letting me ride with you," Brittany said when Santana was firmly on the platform.

"Of course, it's no problem," Santana muttered, still a little flushed.

Brittany smiled. "Well I hope the next person I ride with is half as brave as you." With that she headed towards the operators booth. Opening the door she glanced back at Santana and winked before disappearing inside.

Santana stood there stunned for a minute before making her way to the exit. She found her friends waiting for her.

"There you are Santana! We were beginning to think you were still petrified with fear and unable to leave the ride. Michael was about to go get you." Rachel said hurrying over. Santana held up her hand.

"Step off hobbit, remember five foot perimeter," Rachel nodded wearily before taking a step back. "And I wasn't 'petrified with fear'. That ride was totally lame, I practically fell asleep."

Puck snorted. "Didn't know you were such a screamer in your sleep."

Santana narrowed her eyes and made to move at him before Mike swung an arm over her shoulders, pulling her into his side.

"Who's up for some games?" Quinn intervened, grabbing Puck by the arm and setting off in the direction of the closest stall.

"Asshole," She huffed as the rest of the group began to follow, settling for glaring at the retreating mohawk instead.

"Come on Santana, don't be grumpy. He was just playing," Mike said as he pulled her along to follow everyone else. When she huffed in return he picked her up and began swinging her around, tickling her sides as he did so. She shrieked in laughter and begged him to stop.

"Promise to stop being grumpy?"

"Yes, yes I promise!" She gasped. Satisfied, he set her back on the ground grinning when she wobbled slightly. Seeing his grin she smacked his arm with a grin.

"There's that face," Mike teased. He kneeled down "Now hop on, I wanna win Tina a turtle."

"Why a turtle?" Santana asked jumping on his back.

"They're suppose to be good luck. Things are gonna change this summer San, I can feel it."

As blonde hair and blue eyes flashed through her minds eye, a grin spread across Santana's lips.

"Me too."


End file.
